50 Fastest Swims in 2017

Ironman Cozumel was clearly the fastest swim in 2017. The top 12 male times, and 6 of the top 7 female times were all at Cozumel. Honourable mention to Ironman Chattanooga, which was a female only pro race in 2017, and had 5 of the top 12 female swim times.

There were 8 different races in the top 50 swims for males, and 18 races in the top 50 swims for female. This means the fastest males were more likely to have a pack to swim with than the fastest females.

4 males and 7 females with top 50 swims won the race.

50 different males are featured in the top 50 swims, while only 41 different females are featured in the top 50. 6 females have multiple results in the top 50. Kate Comber, Lauren Brandon, and Lucy Charles are each tied with the most results in the top 50 at 3.

Differences in swim courses have a very significant impact on swim times. Alicia Kaye had the fastest female swim in 2017 (41:49), but her Kona swim of 53:04 had her 6th out of the water, 4:16 back of Lucy Charles. Josh Amberger was first out of the water in Kona in 2017, and Amberger beat Sebastian Kienle out of the water by 6:35, but Amberger only had the 48th fastest swim of 2017 (47:09 at Ironman World Championship) while Kienle had the 7th fastest swim (41:36 at Ironman Cozumel).

Andy Potts, who has traditionally been the the standard in mens triathlon, did not feature in the top 50 swim times in 2017. Potts was 28th out of the water in Kona, towards the tail end of the lead group, and 1:52 behind Josh Amberger at the front of the race.